New Canadian
Report Reveals Toxic Pollution in Humans
(Beyond Pesticides, November 16, 2005) A cocktail
of harmful toxic chemicals including pesticides, PCBs, stain repellants,
flame retardants, mercury and lead was detected in 100 percent of those
tested in a Canadian study, released last week by Environmental Defence
(Canada).

The report, Toxic
Nation: A Report on Pollution in Canadians, demonstrates that
toxic chemicals contaminate people no matter where they live, how old
they are or what they do for a living. Studies in the U.S. and U.K.
have shown similar results of toxic loads carried by humans (see list
of Daily News stories below).

According to the
report, researchers targeted those chemicals that are considered most
hazardous to human health, and particularly to children's development,
including carcinogens, hormone disruptors, reproductive/developmental
toxins and respiratory toxins.

Among the pesticides
and their metabolites tested were organophosphate insecticides such
as parathion,
diazinon,
malathion,
and chloropyrifos,
which have a variety of applications for lawns,
agricultural crops, and mosquito and pest control.

The study tested
the blood and urine of eleven subjects dispersed across regions in British
Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
A total of 60 out 88 (or 68 per cent) were discovered in the samples.
On average, 44 chemicals were detected in each volunteer, including
41 carcinogens, 27 hormone disruptors, 21 respiratory toxins and 53
reproductive/developmental toxins.

Chief David Masty
of the Whapmagoostui First Nation in northern Quebec had 51 chemicals
detected in his body with the highest levels of mercury and persistent
organic pollutants such as PCBs and organochlorine pesticides. The report
attributes the findings to the fact that many chemicals accumulate in
the North and in wildlife, despite the distance from most stationary
sources of industrial pollution.

The levels of some
chemicals detected in the volunteers suggest that effective regulation
to ban the most harmful toxic substances can reduce the pollution in
people over time. Older volunteers in the Toxic Nation study had higher
levels of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), which were banned in Canada
in 1977, than the younger volunteers.

virtually eliminate the use of toxic chemicals, starting with some
of the most harmful: brominated flame retardants (PBDEs), perfluorinated
chemicals and their precursors (PFOS), and phthalates (chemicals that
make plastics soft);

make
industry accountable for its chemicals;

regulate
chemicals in consumer products through CEPA; and,

create
a special section in CEPA to focus on pollution reduction in the Great
Lakes basin.

For more information
including test results of the individual volunteers from across Canada,
visit the Toxic Nation web site at www.toxicnation.ca.